Ruff N Ready Fun Match

The Ruff n Ready fun match was Lexy and Barley's first "real" show together.  As you may have guessed by the photo Barley wasn't up to the job at first.  The 2 of them entered the showmanship ring together with about 10 other participants and their dogs.  Barley (72lbs of pulling power) proceeded to pull Lexy (75lbs of holding power) to all of the other dogs to meet and greet and then straight out of the ring all together.  While both her and I were walking Barley (if that's what you'd call it) out of the ring with tears streaming down our faces (mine because I felt bad for her) the judge said "maybe you should take a few minutes and see if he can calm down a bit".  I thought we were done as soon as we started until her good friend Ashley came running over with Kona.  Since she didn't have to show for a bit, she offered him up and Lex proceeded to take 3rd place in showmanship.

At first Barley was excited when he saw Lex return with a ribbon....but Nojah and dad pointed out it wasn't for him.  BAD BARLEY.

He felt SO awful about making Lex cry (I am pretty sure anyway) that he was excited to try his paw at obedience.  While they didn't score super high, he maintained his composure in the ring just the 2 of them and followed most of her commands pretty well.  

After obedience Lex was a little more confident and was excited to take him through the agility course.  He really hadn't had much practice except a few days before so she had to help encourage him quite a bit and show him how things are done.  

she found it was also helpful if she begged and pleaded with him along the way as well.

and I have to say she was a champ and able to clear the jumps without any difficulty before Barley would plow through them himself.

Nojah worked hard cheering her on through her triumph's

and Barley was so proud of himself and her of him after he too received his very own first ribbons.

GOOD BARLEY